A wok constitutes a very important part of Chinese cooking equipment that makes possible many delicacies. Basically, the wok takes the form of a shallow steel pan generally with a rounded bottom and diametrically opposite handles. Because of its steel construction which is highly thermally conducting, and its shallow configuration, it distributes heat over a relatively wide area while concentrating liquid at the central or bottom portion. This arrangement permits a maximum of searing with a minimum of shortening which is very desirable for the stir and fry technique of Chinese cooking. Because the food ingredients are sliced, chopped, cubed or shredded, wok cooking takes only a few moments--three to ten minutes. By such rapid cooking, there is preserved the delicate flavor nuances lost in other cooking methods.
In addition to the foregoing, a wok is a fairly flexible cooking utensil. Besides a stirrer-fryer it can serve as well as a griddle, omelet pan, roasting pan, soup kettle and so forth. It will work with a gas range or stove, an electric burner, or a charcoal fire.
A problem associated with wok cooking, however, is the fact that the exterior bottom surface of the wok is generally rounded as noted above. Most cooking elements in stoves and the like, however, lie in a plane. As a consequence, when the wok is positioned over the conventional burner, the central portion of the wok tends to receive more heat than the outer areas of the wok simply because the central areas are closer to the central burners than are the outer areas to the outer burners. It would be very desirable if there were some means for assuring substantially uniform heating of the exterior bottom wok surface.